ESPN to launch SEC Network in '14

ESPN and the SEC, in a joint announcement Thursday, revealed that the SEC Network will launch in August of 2014.

The announcement was made by conference commissioner Mike Slive and ESPN president John Skipper.

The 20-year agreement is the longest sports rights contract in American television. The financial terms were not revealed.

The network will televise 45 football games per year, three each Saturday during the regular season. It will also air more than 100 men's basketball games per season.

ESPN will manage the SEC Network and produce it from its regional studios in Charlotte, N.C.

It will be distributed through an agreement with AT&T U-Verse. The SEC also created getsecnetwork.com, a website in which customers of other cable and satellite TV providers can urge them to provide the network.